Hosta “Smokey” review and information

Hosta "Smokey" review

Plant with upright twisted leaf, intense white back, can be seen from any angle. The latest in Alex's Dog series, this is a very unusual longipes 'Urajiro Hachijo' seedling with narrow leaves that have good white backs. Hybridizer Alert! This plant produces seedlings even better than it is. You won't be disappointed with this one...... It is a very nice plant, though. Some of you may have been moved by the great looks of 'Candy Dish' and 'Marilyn Monroe' from the great pairing of Alex Summers and Jim Hawes. To remind you of the story, Jim started a large batch of seed from 'Urajiro Hachijo' sent from Japan and split the resulting seedlings with Alex. Jim chose his favorite and Alex chose two. Hosta connoisseurs have been waiting for a few years now for the arrival of the "third sister" and now she has arrived! 'Smokey' was selected and named by the dean of all things Hosta - Alex Summers. Our friend Arthur Wrede will be introducing the plant for Alex in mid-2006. 'Smokey' has much narrower leaves than either of her sisters and features some of the whitest backs in the business. Unfortunately, these don't show in the picture, but according to Bill Meyer "they are not only very white, but some of the seedlings from it are whiter still, rivalling the white of hypoleucas." It's a small plant, but a good grower, and a good bloomer to boot. An excellent plant and one we at First Look are proud to introduce to the world. The name denotes the smokey-white backs, but also is the name of one of Alex's famous dogs - a shy Husky mix who was once badly treated before coming to Honeysong.